Triceratops
Triceratops is an extinct Genus of Ceratopsian Dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops, like Tyrannosaurus and Ankylosaurus, lived lived until the K-PG mass extinction event. Several Triceratops fossils have been discovered with Tyrannosaurus bite and scratch marks, leading us to believe that one of Triceratops' predators was Tyrannosaurus. Triceratops was built to be a fortress. With a giant head with a beak built for crushing tough plants and stalks, 3 long curved horns and a frill to protect Triceratops' neck. If a Tyrannosaurus got hold of the Triceratops' neck, it would likely be a matter of time before the Triceratops tired itself out and died. Because of that, it is the most likely reason the neck frill evolved. The Triceratops would have traveled as a large group. Whenever predators would have attacked the herd, it has been theorized that the healthy adults would form a ring, and the young and weak members would go into the center of the ring. This formation would form a ttough wall of horns, making it virtually impossible for the predators to pick off a member of the herd. The strong bodies and legs of the Triceratops would have been great for long distance movement. In 2011 Jack Horner performed a study where he cut open Dinosaur skulls. He was searching for immature bones within the skulls of the animals. Some of the animals that were dissected were Nedoceratops, Ojoceratops, Tatankaceratops, Triceratops and Torosaurus. From the study, it was concluded that the animals were all growth stages. The growth of Triceratops goes as follow: Ojoceratops, Triceratops, Nedoceratops, Tatankaceratops, and Torosaurus. Because Ojoceratops, Tatankaceratops, Nedoceratops and Torosaurus were all discovered after Triceratops, they are now invalid genus' and synonyms of Triceratops. Discovery Triceratops was discovered by George Lyman Cannon in Denver, Colorado. Lyman discovered a pair of brow horns and brought them to Othniel Charles Marsh who drew the conclusion Triceratops was a genus of Pliocene bison. Naming it Bison alticornis, it was later corrected by Charles Arthur Guernsey. Because the Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marshs rivalry, many of the fossils discovered were given new genus' because they had been so petty. Here is a list of Triceratops species that are either doubted or proven false because of the Bone Wars. * T. albertensis C. M. Sternberg, 1949 * T. alticornis (Marsh 1887) Hatcher, Marsh, and Lull, 1907 [originally Bison alticornis, Marsh 1887, and Ceratops alticornis, Marsh 1888] * T. brevicornus Hatcher, 1905 (=''T. prorsus'') * T. calicornis Marsh, 1898 (=''T. horridus'') * T. elatus Marsh, 1891 (=''T. horridus'') * T. eurycephalus Schlaikjer, 1935 * T. flabellatus Marsh, 1889 (= Sterrholophus Marsh, 1891) (=''T. horridus'') * T. galeus Marsh, 1889 * T. hatcheri (Hatcher & Lull 1905) Lull, 1933 (contentious; see Nedoceratops below) * T. ingens Marsh vide Lull, 1915 * T. maximus Brown, 1933 * T. mortuarius (Cope, 1874) Kuhn, 1936 (nomen dubium; originally Polyonax mortuarius) * T. obtusus Marsh, 1898 (=''T. horridus'') * T. serratus Marsh, 1890 (=''T. horridus'') * T. sulcatus Marsh, 1890 * T. sylvestris (Cope, 1872) Olshevsky, 2000 (nomen dubium; originally Agathaumas sylvestris) References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triceratops Category:Dinosaurs Category:Ornithischia Members Category:Ceratopsians Category:Late Cretaceous Organisms Category:Cretaceous Organisms Category:Hell Creek, Montana Residents Category:Animals Category:Herbivores